History Fridge / SantaClausIsCominToTown

[[AC:Fridge Brilliance]]

[[AC:Fridge Horror]]

* During "No More Toymakers to the King," Meisterburger walks around and even dances just fine despite his leg injury, yet later, in town, he's shown using a wheelchair. This seems like FridgeLogic at first, but it actually makes sense – his "broken funnybone" isn't really a serious injury at all, but his ego makes him play it up in public as worse than it is.

[[AC:Fridge Logic]]

* Kris and Jessica's wedding consisted of them putting their wedding gifts under a pine tree and looking up at the stars, while the Winter Warlock prays for a little magic to make the trees glow. The narrator even notes that "Since no church would have them, they stood before the Lord in a grove of pine trees." So technically... they're not legally married?!
** Yes, they aren't legally married. However, they are ''sacramentally'' married.
** Besides, for all we know common law marriage was legal in "the northern country" at the time. Historically, sacramental and common law were the only sorts of marriage there were; marriage as a specific, secular institution is a very new thing.
* Adding to the above discussion, the Clauses' ''wedding night'' was Christmas Eve. This means that Kris leaves Jessica alone on their anniversary ''every year''!
* Topper the penguin. Even setting aside the fact that he's somehow wandered near the ''North'' Pole while searching for the ''South'', why is he the only animal in the show that wears a scarf?
** Speaking of Topper, let's not get into the fact that 'topper' is a pretty weird word for Kris to randomly blurt out. But when he's trying to find out why the penguin is where he is, Topper bounces around in a way that indicates he's looking for ''something''. What prompts Kris to immediately discern that he's looking for a word which is synonymous with 'stick'?
** Topper is obviously an adult penguin. Most matured penguins are mated (for life), so he was likely looking for his way back home to his mate. But he apparently abandons the quest permanently after befriending Kris. Did he leave a mate (and maybe a brood of chicks) abandoned forever?
* If the Kringles were the toymakers to the King of whatever country this is (I'm assuming ancient Germany), how does a Burgermeister, a small-time local lord, go over his head in declaring the Kringles enemies of the state? This bugged me even as a little kid. King > Mayor.
** Maybe Burgermeister was a revolutionary that usurped him. That would explain the guy looking like the king without OnlySixFaces: The Burgermeister forced him to be an official.
*** This was always my interpretation to it too: The King had recently been killed in a revolution where the Burgermeister made himself Dictator of the town. The Kringles had abandoned the town for the woods during the revolution, and survived because of it (going the long way, not through the Winter Warlock's Domain). In fact, Kris might be related to the original King in some way.
** I always thought, just maybe, that while a mortal earthly King is shown, that perhaps the Kringles were somehow toymakers to the King Of Kings when he was a child. But that being too overtly religious for network TV (which cringed at Linus's speech in Charlie Brown) they reduced it to being an unnamed, vaguely-defined King. That, or the King was Charlemagne, ruler over vast parts of Europe - after his death, his regions broke up further and further until local bullies like the Burgermeister ruled, and some of them did openly spurn learning and culture.
** Tanta seems to speak of their greatness in the past tense. I'd guess that they were the king's toymakers once, but maybe the king died and his successor, whoever that was, had no need for them, forcing them into obscurity.
** Maybe Sombertown is technically in a different country or has since become independent; it being in the same nation was only slightly implied, and the toy soldiers look like the same time period but different designs to the Burgermeister's own troops.
*** Well, if Sombertown is located in Germany as suggested, it's entirely possible that this wasn't always the case. The border between Germany and France shifted a lot in pre-medieval times, so it could be that the Kringles had been the first toymakers to the king of ''France'' and then lost their job when their region became part of Germany instead. Or perhaps they served one of the rulers of a region of what eventually became Germany, e.g. Bavaria, and then when Germany unified their area came under the jurisdiction of the Burgermeister instead of directly answering to the crown.
* Kris is trapped in a dungeon. Kris needs to escape the dungeon. The solution? Feed reindeer corn that makes them fly! How does a flying reindeer help him out of a dungeon?!
** Maybe it has a skylight that is unseen.
** Kris could probably get out of the jail itself easily. But then, where to go? The town is loaded with soldiers, his friends are not all as sharp and fast as he, and the people are cowed for the moment. He needed to get out of town and well away from it as fast as... a flying reindeer.
* Toys are supposed to be illegal in this town, to the extent that any family caught with one will be arrested, correct? If that's true, why do the kids take the toys Kris gives them OUTSIDE to play with them?! They, or their parents, know that the Burgermeister frequently goes outside! Wouldn't it make more sense to hide the toys in the house and tell the kids to play with them quietly in their rooms so they WON'T get caught?
** This occurred to me as well, but then, these are little kids. You wouldn't expect them never to go outside to play. Besides, their environment doesn't encourage normal childhood behavior, so maybe they were so excited just to have toys and get to play.
* The guards of Sombertown arrested the elves and Winter for helping Kris, and yet they didn't arrest Jessica, who was standing ''right there'' and had helped Kris as well. Why?
** The only thing I can figure is that at that point, they were just using the 'helping Kris' motive as the excuse for arresting the elves and Winter. The real reason the guards arrested all of them was because Kris cared about them and they wanted to keep him in line; they were also the ones who were most likely to try to help him escape from prison. Maybe they hadn't yet worked out that Jessica had also become important to Kris.
** It's also worth noting that there was no proof tying Jessica to the toymaking operation; the Kringles were famous for their craft, and Winter was a powerful force of magic, so the Burgermeister likely figured he was involved. Jessica did help by delivering the children's letters to the woodland creatures, but no one else in town knew that. Plus as Sombertown's schoolteacher, she may have had a little immunity from the law (there didn't seem to be anyone else in her position).
* Why exactly did the Burgermeister hate toys? It's never really explained; all he says is that he hates toys, and that's about it. What, did toys come to life and kill his parents? Is he trying to mold the kids into little soldiers to take over nearby towns (going back to the above "usurpation" section) and eventually unify Germany under his boot?
** He hates them because he tripped on a toy and broke his funny bone. His rage against toys is merely the result of wounded pride. EvilIsPetty.

*** This was always my interpretation to it too: The King had recently been killed in a revolution where the Burgermeister made himself Dictator of the town. The Kringles had abandoned the town for the woods during the revolution, and survived because of it (Going the long way, not through the Winter Warlocks Domain). In fact, Kris might be related to the original King in some way.

** He hates them because he tripped on a toy and broke his funny bone. His rage against toys is merely the result of wounded pride. EvilIsPetty.

** Also, by the time he dies, the children who first got their toys from Kris would be adults, so they repeal his law.

* The Burgomeister threatens arrest and even imprisonment for households harboring toys. As the children repeatedly play with the toys in the open... and the fact The Burgomeister is ''not'' a very reasonable fellow... plenty of Sombertown Citizens probably ended up in the dungeon, or worse.

* Kris and Jessica's wedding consisted of them putting their wedding gifts under a pine tree and looking up at the stars, while the Winter Warlock prays for a little magic to make the trees glow. The narrator even notes that "Since no church would have them, they stood before the Lord in a grove of pine trees." So technically...they're not legally married?!
** Add to that, their ''wedding night'' was Christmas Eve. Which means that Kris leaves Jessica alone on their anniversary ''every year''!
** Yes, they aren't legally married. However they are ''sacramentally'' married.

** Speaking of Topper, let's not get into the fact that 'topper' is a pretty weird word for Kris to say. But when he's trying to find out why the penguin is where he is, Topper bounces around in a way that indicates he's looking for ''something''. What prompts Kris to immediately discern that he's looking for a word which is synonymous with 'stick'?

** Maybe Burgermeister was a revolutionary that usurped him. That would explain the guy looking like the king without OnlySixFaces: The Burgermeister forced him to be an offical.

** I always thought, just maybe, that while a mortal earthly King is shown, that perhaps the Kringles were somehow toymakers to the King Of Kings when he was a child. But that being too overtly religious for network TV (which cringed at Linus's speech in Charlie Brown) they reduced it to being an unnamed, vaguely-defined King. That, or the King was Charlemagne, ruler over vast parts of Europe, but whom after his death, left his regions breaking up further and further until local bullies like the Burgermeister ruled, and some of them did openly spurn learning and culture.

** Maybe Sombertown is technically in a different country or had since become independent; it being in the same nation was only slightly implied, and the toy soldiers look like the same time period but different designs to the Burgermeister's own troops.

** Kris could probably get out of the jail itself easily. But then, where to go? The town is loaded with soldiers, his friends are not all as sharp and fast as he, and the people are cowed for the moment. He needed to get out of town and well away from it as fast as--a flying reindeer.

** It's also worth noting that there was no proof tying Jessica to the toymaking operation; the Kringles were famous for their craft, and Winter was a powerful force of magic, so the Burgermeister likely figured he was involved. Jessica did help by delivering the children's letters to the woodland creatures, but no one else in town knew that. Plus as Sombertown's schoolteacher, she likely had a little immunity from the law (there didn't seem to be anyone else in her position).

** He hates them because he tripped on a toy and broke his funny bone. His rage against toys is merely the result of wounded pride. EvilIsPetty.

----

** He hates them because he tripped on a toy and broke his funny bone. EvilIsPetty.

[[AC: FridgeLogic]]

[[AC:Fridge Brilliance]]
* When Kris says that "turning from bad to good is as easy as taking your first steps," this sounds very idealistic, if not downright naïve. But learning to walk also involves falling on your face a lot.
* It's strongly implied that Meisterburger's bloodline ended with his death. Given the fact that he hates children and doesn't appear to be married, it would certainly make sense that he'd have no one to inherit his position.

[[AC:Fridge Horror]]
* Toys play a vital part in brain development. To make matters worse, Meisterburger's definition of toys includes anything that brings children happiness, such as musical instruments, ballet shoes, and balls. If Kris never interfered, Sombertown would have an entire generation of people with severe developmental disabilities.
* The Burgomeister threatens arrest and even imprisonment for households harboring toys. As the children repeatedly play with the toys in the open... and the fact The Burgomeister is ''not'' a very reasonable fellow... plenty of Sombertown Citizens probably ended up in the dungeon, or worse.

** Speaking of Topper, let's not get into the fact that 'topper' is a weird word for Kris to mutter and then select for a name. But when he's trying to find out why the penguin is where he is, Topper bounces around in a way that indicates he's looking for ''something''. What prompts Kris to immediately discern that he's looking for a word which is synonymous with 'stick'?

* Why exactly did the Burghermeister hate toys? It's never really explained; all he says is that he hates toys, and that's about it. What, did toys come to life and kill his parents? Is he trying to mold the kids into little soldiers to take over nearby towns (going back to the above "usurpation" section) and eventually unify Germany under his boot?